Archive for tag:
massage students

Meet Laura Dupler from National University of Health Sciences.
She teaches ethics for First Trimester students and a portion of
the business classes for other First and Third Trimester students.
She also teaches an elective class in myofascial release.

Laura is a previous graduate of the
NUHS massage program. "I was almost 42 when I came here to prepare
for a second career. I had been an office manager, bookkeeper and
staff accountant in the corporate world. Not only was my old career
stressful, it wasn't what I really wanted to do and I didn't feel
happy about going to a job just to pay the bills."

She heard about the field of massage therapy and decided to
attend an information night at NUHS. "When I went to the
information night, I knew that if I could get through the gross
anatomy portion of the orientation, then I could do the rest."

"As much as I dreaded it, the anatomy
lab was one of the best advantages to the program. It's an entirely
different thing for somebody to show you a muscle in a book versus
seeing it on real bodies - how it looks, how it moves. It is an
incredible tool."

"I picked National because they had
the 'nuts and bolts' program that I wanted, and I had researched
pass rates on the national board exams. I wanted to know I was
going to one of the best."

After graduating in 2006, Laura went
on to work as a massage therapist and chiropractic assistant in a
chiropractic physician's office. She initially started teaching
just a few nights per week in the business courses at NUHS, drawing
from her background in office management. "One of the jobs I held
previously was for a high end hiring firm. I know what employers
are seeking in terms of resumés and curriculum vitae, so I could
share a lot with students who would be interviewing for jobs when
they left." Laura is also a member of the University's massage
therapy advisory board.

Laura's advice to her students and to
those considering a career in massage is this: "Don't look at any
educational program as an automatic ticket to making tons of money.
It takes a certain amount of work and salesmanship when you
graduate to become a successful MT. Just because you graduate from
one of the best schools in your field doesn't give you an automatic
pass to making the money you feel you want to make. It takes hard
work to build a practice and to get clients in the door. You can't
sit back and let it happen, you have to go after it! One of my
instructors here said to us, 'You might be the best therapist in
the entire world, but nobody knows it if you don't tell them.'

"One of
my favorite sayings that I really live by is this: 'Stop asking
what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive and
then do that. Because what the world needs is more people to come
alive!'"

A quote recently caught my eye from a book by
Marianne Williamson and it says, "It is not time to wait for
angels, but to actively become them."

With each passing day that I spend as an employee of the
university, I become more aware of how lucky I am to share my day
with the dedicated and passionate students who grace our halls.
There's a certain air of deep caring that embodies National's
interns - one that beckons us to seek their advice and care. You,
graduates, have been blessed with that gift and came to National to
complement it with the proper education.

Your graduation ceremony will be steeped in tradition and
overflowing with emotion. The baton will be passed and you will
rise to the challenge. Those of us who have watched you grow are
blessed to be able to witness the end of this small journey in your
lives. We share your overwhelming excitement as you walk out into
the world full of many different possibilities - a world just
aching for your care.

You are the angels of the health care field and whether you
picture yourselves donned with wings or draped in a red cape, you
will change lives just as you changed your own when you chose to
muster the courage and conviction to pursue the profession of a
care giver.

I am honored to walk among angels every day at National and I
wish you a lifetime of rewards.

The National Certification Board for
Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) recently reduced the
price of its national examination fee for state licensing from $225
to $175. The reason for the reduction is to recognize that students
seeking to become licensed practitioners often have limited
financial resources. Upon successful completion of education and
hands-on requirements, students who pass the exam are immediately
eligible for state licensure. Thirty-two states recognize the
NCBTMB exam as part of a licensing program.